White House harvesting emails off Citizens Response tool

2/12/13 7:01 PM EST

The White House has launched a new tool that allows citizens to comment directly on the State of the Union address — all while harvesting their data.

The "Citizen Response Tool for the 2013 State of the Union" — rolled out in beta earlier this week — allows citizens to comment on, and share passages from President Obama's primetime address.

The beta — and a video of the real tool (which won't go live until during the speech) released by the White House — require users to input their emails in order to comment.

The Obama campaign — and the tax-exempt nonprofit that succeeded it — were known for their aggressive email harvesting tactics. A recent email solicitation invited users to share their immigration story. Other

The Obama campaign's email list, which campaign manager Jim Messina said now tops 20 million addresses, was a big part of the campaign's fundraising success.

The White House can't fundraise with its own list, but it can use its to help sell the White House's policies and communicate updates with supporters and opponents alike. The tool also gives the administration instant feedback on how individual parts of the speech were recieved by certain demographic groups.